4. Ah, ok

Well, given that, I'd rather spend my money on a director who'll spend his money in the US.

And I've been to New Zealand and I love it. But I won't spend my money for the express purpose of making sure another country benefits. I may see the Hobbit... waiting for the reviews. But I'll definitely see Lincoln. Spielberg needs to know he has the support to make another movie /sarcasm.

Do you think Peter Jackson's future relies on what DUers do re: The Hobbit? The series will make billions regardless of what I do.

17. Spoilers (if that's neccessary)

The Hobbit does have Gandalf leaving the group, after the episode with Beorn if I remember correctly, to go and take part in the White Council's attack on the Necromancer (ie Sauron) in Dol Guldur, and Galadriel was in the Council, even if she wasn't mentioned in The Hobbit. So they may be just filling things that were background in The Hobbit - which are conveniently action-filled and suitable for large screen special effects.

And, even more than LOTR, The Hobbit is lacking female characters, so I'm not surprised they've brought Galadriel in. The Hobbit makes the Republican party look gender-balanced.

42. I love what they've done to give the dwarves some individuality.

Because there were so many of them, and so few have anything more than a sketchy personality profile in the book, the screenwriters had to do some close studying of the book, and the LOTR books, as well in order to develop screen personas for them.

For example, Tolkien mentions that one of the dwarves (I can't remember who right now) is hard of hearing, so Peter Jackson portrays him with an ear trumpet. The dwarf Ori had hardly any description in "The Hobbit". However, in "The Fellowship Of The Ring" novel, he is mentioned as knowing a number of different languages and alphabets. So Peter Jackson gave him a prop book and portrays him as a scholar. That is kind of cool for a Tolkien geek like me.

One thing I initially objected to was the notion of "hot dwarves". Fili and Kili are the youngest dwarves, and are played by young, good-looking actors, probably to bring in more women to the theaters. And that's fine; but Tolkien went out of his way to portray the dwarves as being very coarse-featured, and unattractive by human standards (even dwarf women have beards, etc.)

There will be things that many people find objectionable. Bombur, the fat dwarf, is evidently the comic relief. But I'm looking forward to the films, and, based on my affinity for the LOTR films, I expect to enjoy "The Hobbit".

14. All 3 LOTR movies were superb. If The Hobbit is as good...

... I will be extremely happy. Peter Jackson et al. were amazingly faithful to the books, and the changes they made (for instance updating a couple of the female roles, thank you) were spot on.

I am currently reading The Hobbit to my 8 y.o. grandson, and plan to take him to see the movie when it comes out. We tried to buy advance tickets today, but only the midnight show on the 14th is on sale yet.

43. bullfuckingshit, honey: From the article YOU linked:

A spokesman for Jackson's production company has confirmed that the deaths of two horses were "avoidable and we took steps to make sure it didn't happen again."

Mark Stubis, a spokesman for the AHA, said that his group did inspect the farm but that the deaths highlight a loophole in their oversight of the use of animals on film sets.

"We would love to be able to monitor the training of animals and the housing of animals," Stubis said. "It's something we are looking into. We want to make sure the animals are treated well all the time."

At the center of the controversy are allegations brought by wrangler Chris Langridge, who was hired as a horse wrangler in December, 2010 but quit just two months later after injuries to two horses resulted in one having to be euthanized. Langridge characterized the facility as being full of "death traps."

41. I would love to see your reasoning behind that accusation.

19. I can't wait to go see it

It was a phenomenal experience for me to see all three of them in the theater. I remember the rush I got during the scene in the Two Towers where they are going down the river and pass the statues of the kings. It was fantastic to see all of it come to life.

24. The opening minutes of The Fellowship pulled me in at once

And when the camera brought us in to The Shire, it was everything I ever imagined it would be.

I first read the books the summer of 1965, along with a whole generation of my peers. (Not that I ever actually discussed it with anyone -- I grew up a solitary F&SF reader, so never knew who else might even be interested.) However, the fan base for the books became enormous over time, and we had wanted a production of this caliber for decades and decades. Peter Jackson did not disappoint.

I saw each of the episodes in the theater several times, knowing I wouldn't get another chance to see it on the big screen. The audiences differed -- when I went with my retired movie-buddies, we had a mix of older and college-age viewers (time of day + proximity to the university). One of the times I saw Two Towers it was a matinee absolutely stuffed with teenaged boys (after school, downtown theater). They were adorable in their enthusiasm -- the ones in the row in front of me were overcome with admiration when Legolas leapt onto his horse, cape swirling.

Not sure why various respondents in this thread are so aggrieved at the thought of a filmmaker making money, nor do I understand why -- since none of them are apparently fans of LOTR in the first place -- they feel called upon to attack the number and presumed quality of The Hobbit films. They don't have to go see it -- not anyplace, not any time. It's their loss -- but it might be polite on their part to leave the topic alone.

34. Just before LOTR3 came out I got to see the others again on big screen

My husband taught at the local college and one of his colleagues quietly arranged to use one of the lecture theaters that had a movie screen over a weekend -- a strictly non-profit endeavor, I think we all chipped in for pizza and other snacks. So on that Saturday we saw The Fellowship and on Sunday, The Two Towers, and in the following weeks we individually made our ways to local movie houses to see The Return of the King. What a great idea.

I revisit my DVDs at home every couple of years or so. Nine hours of wonder...